a view of life in Uganda and the USA

Lately we’ve been visiting the guardians of the kids in Dwan Madiki in order to better understand each individual situation and household. We’ve designed a survey that takes more than 2 hours and is so specific that it literally narrows down "How many people live in your household?" “How many jerry cans do you own?” "How many mosquito nets do you own?" "How many times a week do you eat meat/vegetables/fruit?”

The idea is that once we’ve done this with each family, a detailed, accurate picture will be painted of each child’s home life, and therefore, we and the Board of Directors will be able to form programs that benefit not just the kids but their entire families!

We’ve all been flooded with realizations because of these surveys. Some of them reflect the immense difference between life here and life in the United States. And others actually have reminded me of the roots in life that exist everywhere… I’ve decided to make an imaginary dialogue that illustrates what we’ve seen. “Sharon” a mother of 3 children in Dwan Madiki and “Katie” is me, obviously! All of this information is completely accurate based on our survey with Sharon.

Katie: I live in a home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, a sunroom, and a kitchen. I share it with two friends.

Sharon: I live in 2 huts, one with a 6 ft. radius and one with a 7 ft. radius. I share them with my three children, my sister, my 2 brothers, and my niece.

Katie: I’m 23, I went to university, and I can read and write.

Sharon: I’m 30, I could only attend school until Primary 3 (4^th grade), and I can write my name.

Katie: I have about 5 outfits (sets of clothing) on this trip and a closet full at home in Chicago.

Sharon: I have 4 sets of clothing.

Katie: I have no husband and no children.

Sharon: I have no husband, 3 children, 1 dependent, and my children are more literate than me.

Katie: My clean water source is 6 steps from my bedroom to my sink.

Sharon: My clean water source is about 1.5 miles from my home.

Katie: When I go to the supermarket, the month doesn’t matter. I can get fruit and veggies any time!

Sharon: In rainy season my family eats fruit 7 days a week. In dry season we don’t eat fruit.

Katie: When I get low on toothpaste, I run to Walgreens or CVS.

Sharon: When we’re low on toothpaste, we wait until we can afford more.

Katie: I have a plant in my living room that I sometimes forget to water!

Sharon: My family grows maize, potatoes, beans, and sorghum year round.

Katie: My portion of rent in my Chicago apartment is about US $460 a month.

Sharon: My home was built by my family. But I do pay rent on my garden (land). It’s about 15,000 UGS (Ugandan Schillings) a year. (US $7.50)

Katie: My means of transportation in Chicago to walk, bike, or use the public train/bus.

Sharon: My means of transportation is to walk.

Katie: When my guests come, I invite them in and we talk.

Sharon: When my guests come, I let them sit on chairs while I sit on a mat. I bring them soda and biscuits. This costs me about 6,000 UGS (Ugandan Schillings), which in dollars is about $3.00.

But the thing is, this 6,000 UGS is 10% of my monthly income. So if I lived in the United States with a yearly income of $60,000, then my gift would be worth 10% of my monthly income which would be $500. In essence I was living in the US, I’d be giving my guest a new bike or a flat screen TV.

Katie: I tell my guests when I need to go, because my life is so busy and I can’t get behind on my plans! I tell them to come by anytime, which implies give me a call, we’ll make plans, and maybe someday we’ll spend time together again.

Sharon: I always wait until my guests ask for permission to leave, even if it’s 3 hours later. And I escort them down the road and welcome them back anytime,

Gosh…. I didn’t even realize how crazy it is to compare lives like this. I felt a lot of this when we were doing the assessment with her the other day, but to see these juxtaposed leaves me speechless. It's just a reminder of how intertwined life is, and therefore how seemingly impossible it can be to break these systems. Every aspect of poverty is both a result and a cause of every other aspect....

Water from the bore hole is far, so there is less time to work in the garden, so there are less crops to eat, so there are less crops to sell in the market, so there is less money to buy mosquito nets, so there is more chance of contracting malaria, so there is more need for a doctor, but no money to pay him/her, so there is more sickness and weakness, so there is less energy to go fetch water at the bore hole.